“In the shower. Is it alright if I check your phone?”
“Sure, I’ll get the breakfast going.”
“Maria.” I place my hand on her shoulder and stop her from faffing around the kitchen. “It’s okay,” I say, my voice quiet. “It’s weird. All of this.”
Her chin wobbles and tears bite at her eyes. “I feel so guilty. Having you both here is lovely, but it does bring up the memories.”
“I know.” I sigh. “Do you think it will ever get easier?” I voice the question that claws at my brain most days.
Will it ever get easier to be around him, to forgive him, to move forward?
“I think it will. With time.” She smiles and one of her hands reaches up and rests on top of mine. “I meant what I said, though. It’s nice to have you both here. Will you be leaving today?”
“After breakfast probably. I’m going to go for a run, clear my head. Do you think you can drop us at the station?”
She frowns in question. “The car isn’t ours,” I explain. “I need to return it, hence the run. I won’t be long.”
Need to return it is code fordrive it to the car park I noticed down the road and abandon it after I’ve wiped it of our fingerprints.
“Oh yes, of course.”
“Brilliant, won’t be long.”
It took longer than I thought with my blood on the leather seats, but thank God for them being leather, as at least I was able to wipe it off.
And as I jog back to Maria’s little cottage, a plan starts to form.
We get Owen back to his normal routines, whilst we wait for Luca to reply. I’m also thinking of risking reaching out to my own contacts to see whether they can salvage anything from the hard drive, or whether it’s completely wiped. With the added risk of me being completely compromised, the question is whether it’s worth it. The contract is still most likely on me and on him.
Which means putting him back in the public eye is the safest thing for him right now, just like Andrews suggested. No one is going to try to take him out if he’s at public events.
Well, in theory, and hopefully not again. But with that being Andrews, I don’t think anyone else will make such a bold move.
If Levi and Duchess are moving forward with their plans, the Covenant soon won’t have the resources they need to take us out. The government angle, though, that is my biggest concern right now. Desperate men do desperate things, and if what’s on the hard drive is as vital as Owen says, those people will do anything.
My feet pound the pavement, the crisp morning air biting my lungs as I work my way home.
I say home easily, but it’s not.
It’s homely.
But it’s not home.
I’ve never really had a home.
Not the bricks-and-mortar type, anyway. But maybe I think of it as home because Owen and Maria are there.
Huh.
Interesting.
Boom, boom, boom,my heart beats.
Pound, pound, pound,my combat boots hit the pavement.
My mind clears.
Running is something else that helps clear my head—as well as mind blowing sex with Owen, it would seem.
